This audio conference was recorded on Wednesday - July 22, 2009

Credits:

This program has been approved for 1.5 recertification credit hours toward PHR and SPHR recertification through the Human Resource Certification Institute (HRCI). For more information about certification or recertification, please visit the HRCI homepage at www.hrci.org. The use of this seal is not an endorsement by HRCI of the quality of the program. It means that this program has met HRCI’s criteria to be pre-approved for recertification.

Description:

Religion bias claims can cost employers big. Consider these recent examples:

• Chicken processor Gold’n Plump recently paid $215,000 to a class of Somali Muslims who claimed religious discrimination, including discharge and discipline.
• A federal appeals court upheld a jury verdict ordering AT&T to pay $756,000 for firing two customer service technicians who attended a Jehovah’s Witness convention.

According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), religion bias claims are on the rise, and the agency has vowed to crack down on employers that violate employees’ rights in this area.

You can’t afford to miss our audio conference recording, when our speaker – an experienced employment law attorney - will explain how to avoid religion bias in your workplace and figure out when you’re legally required to offer an accommodation.

Speaker(s):

Tara Bedeau, Esq., is the executive director of the California Minority Counsel Program (CMCP), a 20-year-old organization dedicated to the promotion and sustainability of diversity and inclusion in California’s legal profession.

Before joining CMCP, Bedeau was an attorney with Littler Mendelson, PC, where she represented, counseled, and trained management clients - ranging from Fortune 100s to nonprofits - in various labor and employment matters for several years. This also included the development and dispensation of preventive strategies for employers through live, in-person, and Web-based compliance training.

Bedeau has also been a featured keynote speaker and panelist for numerous organizations and programs, including BLR’s Employment Law Update conference, as well as a featured broadcast commentator on both the “Know Your Legal Rights” KLAW (91.7 FM) broadcast and “The Profile Series” on Bravo, hosted by Lou Gossett, Jr.

You and your colleagues will learn:

• How federal law defines “religion,” and whether an employee’s professed faith qualifies for protection under Title VII
• When an applicant or employee’s religious beliefs, practices, or observances should be accommodated, including when a shift swapping is a reasonable religious accommodation and how to reasonably accommodate Muslim prayer breaks
• Which accommodation factors may pose an “undue hardship” to your organization
• Appropriate responses to an employee’s refusal to perform an essential job function on religious grounds
• Best practices for ensuring that a religious accommodation decision does not result in a viable retaliation claim